My Blue Heaven

The mobster Vincent 'Vinnie' Antonelli (Steve Martin) is under the witness protection program and the FBI agent Barney Coopersmith (Rick Moranis) is assigned to take Vinnie and his wife Linda to a house in the suburbs. However their wives leave Vinnie and Barney and the agent gets closer to the gangster and befriends him. Vinnie is a bon vivant and a crook and does not keep the necessary low profile. The District Attorney Hannah Stubbs (Joan Cusack) arrests him but Barney releases him from jail since he needs to testify against the Mafia. Soon Barney falls in love with Stubbs, but Vinnie gets into many troubles calling the attention of two hit men from the Mafia. The police officer Crystal Rybak (Melanie Mayron) protects him and they also falls in love with each other. In the end, the good-hearted Vinnie becomes a prominent personality in the suburbs.

"My Blue Heaven" is a heartwarming comedy with funny moments. The good story is wasted with the uneven screenplay. Vinnie in the supermarket is hilarious and maybe the best moment of this movie. The conclusion is corny but entertaining. Steve Martin was originally cast as Barney and Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast as Vinnie but he left the production to work in "Kindengarten Cop". My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Meu Pequeno Paraíso" ("My Little Heaven")

This film went completely under the radar in 1990 and it isn't all that bad. Steve Martin hams it up as Vinnie, a mob informant under the Witness protection program, Rick Moranis is the FBI agent assigned to protect him, and Joan Cusack plays Moranis' love interest/Vinnie's enemy as the DA of the suburban town Martin has been relocated to. These three are the best part of the movie. There are definite plot holes, the script gives Martin a couple of one liners but is weak in general, and nothing else really stands out about this movie. WHat made it worth while to watch is the great chemistry between the three leads. Martin gives it his all and is very funny. Moranis has it tougher while trying to be a nerd/FBI agent(unusual combo) but he pulls it off. His face is so expressive its like you can see what he is thinking. This makes the scenes where Martin is making him do something crazy that much better. All in all, its not great but its worth watching with your kids because they will love it and you will be entertained.

At the time of its release, I thought this might be Steve Martin's best work. He's done so many good things that I wouldn't say what's his best anymore but he is very good in here. His Italian hoodlum accent is funny and the unique character he plays, "Vinnie Antonelli" is very entertaining to see and hear.

This isn't a laugh-out-loud-type of comedy but a pleasant one all the way through with good subtle humor. The first half of the story was much better than the second half. It gets cornier as it goes on. Martin's supporting cast - Rick Moranis and Joan Cusack - don't quite cut it as an FBI man and district attorney, respectively, being ridiculous clown-type characters but, hey, this isn't supposed to be taken seriously. Moranis' "Barney Coppersmith" is stupid but likable and Cusack's "Hannah Stubbs" is overly silly.

The language is very tame, especially for a PG-13 film. It's just a nice lighthearted comedy, worth a look or two. I saw it three times and by then, that was enough. The DVD version I saw wasn't a whole lot better than the tape with poor surround sound and a so-so transfer.

I just watched Blue Heaven and I thought that it was a nice sweet comedy with two of my favorite comedians: Steve Martin and Rick Moranis. They make such a great duo and you can tell that they really enjoy each other's presence. This is the only Steve Martin movie my mom didn't have, so I had to rent it. But I was excited to see Steve Martin as a tough Italin mobster, so I couldn't resist the rental.

My Blue Heaven is about a man, Vinny, aka, Todd, and he's about to go on trial to rat out some Mafia members, but he must be protected from hit men, so that's where Rick's character comes in. He must take care of Vinny and make sure that he isn't arrested or injured, but that's going to be hard since Vinny keeps getting into trouble with the D.A. played by Joan Cussack. Vinny also thinks it's a good idea that she and Rick get together and they do. But Joan is going to try her best to get Vinny busted.

It's predictable, but it is a very adorable movie that I think any Steve Martin fan could appreciate. The cast was great and the story was very funny, I thought it was so cool that it was slightly based on Henry Hill's(who you probably remember from Goodfellas) life. Rick and Steve are just great and I think you'll enjoy this movie.

6/10

My Blue Heaven is exactly the kind of movie you want to see after a long day of work, when you're just looking for something relaxing to spend your evening with. The movie is pretty simple and predictable, some of the gags are not too funny, but it has its good points. Steve Martin is great as an italian mobster, he plays really great. Some gags are very cool and funny, and the dialogue is many times interesting. In conclusion, a good watch. Vote: 6 out of 10.